Love-child fic Part 4
I stared at the crate, ignoring the pain in my knee. "Did you scan it?"
He nodded. "Of course. Nothing alive, nothing hazardous-" I felt better for a moment, until he added: "that the sensors can pick up." We both knew that all kinds of things could slip by scanners. " It's locked on a palm print lock- so I can't open it."
"No, only the customer can." I explained and Heero nodded. "We could break it- but I have to be able to give the law a damn good reason for it. With negative scans I don't think a scratching noise is going to cut it." I sighed and pushed my bangs out of my eyes. "I might be able to work around it somehow, but I'd have to improvise the tools."
"You don't have your old kit around?" Heero lifted an eyebrow.
"Lost it," I admitted and hoped he didn't ask me how. It wasn't something I liked to remember. "I might be able to come up with something- but it would take some time."
We stood silently for a moment, listening to the sound. It was very faint- and there was no pattern to it. It made the back of my neck itch.
"Maybe something is just loose inside?" Heero suggested, sounding as if he didn't believe it.
"Maybe." I eyed the crate and sighed. "Best thing to do is leave a scanner on it and see if things change." And lock the door, I added silently. Maybe even make sure one of the cameras was on it all the time.
Paranoid bastard? Me? Damn right.
Heero nodded and placed the scanner on top of the crate, securing it into place. Then he turned and frowned at me.
"Your knee is still swollen."
Before I could protest, he had once again swept me up off my feet.
"I can walk!"
"Yes, I'm sure you can." Heero stopped at the door and relocked it without me telling him to- I knew there was a reason to keep him around.
"So put me down."
"In a minute."
"I meant now, not on the bed."
"But it's right here." I was deposited on the bed again. "You didn't eat your lunch."
I blinked at him. Good lord, he was turning into my mother. Not that I ever had one to compare, but still!
"I was waiting for you to come back."
He rolled his eyes as he draped the heat pad over my knee again. "Stubborn."
"And you aren't?"
He laughed and picked up the plate. "I'll reheat it and bring it back. Try to stay in bed this time, please?"
I made a face at him. "It's boring here."
"Then I'll have to see what I can do to make it more exciting," he smirked as he vanished with my plate.
Thank god, because I think my face was about to set the pillow on fire. Not that he meant that statement the way I was thinking. No way in hell.
Maybe I needed to call Quatre. Ask him if he could get Heero a job somewhere before I managed to spontaneously combust due to my own hormones.
I leaned over to the panel beside the bed and called up the security shot of the crate in the hold. Just in case.
Heero gave the screen a glance when he came back in with my food, and I saw him give a faint nod. "Eat." He said as he handed me the plate.
"What is this?" I eyed the plate suspiciously.
"Real food. I realize it's been a while since you've seen it- what with the ration packs I found all over the place, but I assure you that it is edible." Heero sat down on the foot of the bed and I realized he meant to stay to watch me eat.
"What kind of things do you usually transport for this guy?" He asked, his eyes going back to the screen.
"Parts." I took a cautious bite of whateveritwas Heero had given me. It tasted vaguely pasta like, but I was pretty sure pasta was usually red or white, not green. "He has a huge parts business. Usually he calls me when a customer wants something in a hurry."
"Or he wants to make a pass at you." Heero leaned back on the bed, propping himself up on his elbows, and frowned. His black-gloved fingers drummed absently on my mattress.
"I would bet he makes a pass at anything that moves," I snorted.
"Did he say anything about this shipment?"
"Nothing more than usual. Told me to take good care of it." I took another bite, trying to remember. "He did ask if I was going right out to L4- but I just figured that had to do with the customer putting pressure on him."
"Hn. How long would it take you to figure out a way to get inside that box?"
"I'd need to take a look at my tools. It's been a while since I've had to break into something. Do you think we should open it?"
He shrugged. "I think I'll feel better if we know we can open it if we need to."
"Good point."
"Once you finish eating, we should look at what you have." He gave me and my plate a meaningful look. "Unless you don't like my cooking?"
"I'm not used to green pasta," I told him and watched his lips curve in a smile. "It's not bad." It was actually pretty good now that I had gotten used to it, but I wasn't going to tell him that.
"It's pesto," he rolled his eyes and levered himself up off my bed. "I see I have my work cut out for me. Where do you keep your tools?"
"The main box is in the engine room. I'll go to it-" before I could finish, Heero had vanished out the door. Idiot. He wasn't going to be able to move the box by himself. I put the plate down beside the bed and swung my legs carefully over the edge.
Before I got to the door, Heero had returned- carrying my toolbox in one hand.
"Why are you out of bed?" He demanded.
"How the hell can you lift that?" I retorted, shocked.
Much to my surprise, he looked a little scared. Why would he be frightened?
He carefully put the box down on the floor, his head bent, his expression shadowed. What was going on? I sat down on the edge of the bed and waited.
His hand, the one he'd used to carry the box was clenching and unclenching, and I realized it was the gundanium one.
But just the hand wouldn't be enough to carry the box- would it?
"Did Quatre- when he replaced your hand-"
Heero shook his head. "It's not the hand. It's me. J did some- modifications." He lifted his hand and made a fist. "That's why I needed a hand like this- why I kept breaking the other ones."
"Strength modifications?"
"Mostly."
He still wasn't meeting my eyes. Why?
"Mechanical or ?"
"Or," Heero sighed. "Definitely or."
I was getting the feeling he didn't want to talk about it.
"Cool. So from now on, you get to do all the loading and unloading."
His head snapped up. "You- you're okay with this?"
"Someone wasn't?" I asked and then it hit me.
Relena. So there was more to it than what he'd told me...
Before he could answer, I continued. "Course I'm fine with it. Always thought it'd be handy to have Superman around."
Heero smiled faintly. "I'm not wearing a cape."
"Capes are overrated." I grinned at him. "Spandex on the other hand- well, you already know the benefits of that." I moved to slide off the bed and sit on the floor beside my toolbox.
Heero, of course, caught me mid-slide. "Be careful."
"Can you move the box closer to the bed?" I compromised, and he did. I leaned over to examine the contents. "There's got to be something here I can use."
TBC...
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